Luke Hollandsworth had 14 and five rebounds for Chelsea, and Logan Brown had 11.

Saline, a guard-heavy squad, was able to spread out the Chelsea defense, and then find lanes to drive through.

“We did a great job tonight of spacing,” Williams said. “And with the shooters that we have, defenders kind of have to stay wide, if they don’t we’ll kick it.”

For Dils, focusing on four-minute increments in the game, and focusing on defense within those increments, is critical.

“We don’t really have to worry about playing into the future, we just worry about those four minutes, and it just makes it four-minute games,” Dils said. “I think it helps us get out and play better defense and score better.”

Chelsea’s best stretch came early in the second quarter, when they nearly took the lead. It was keyed by a pair of buckets and a pair of rebounds by Hollandsworth.

“Luke’s got a lot of skill, he’s a heady player,” Skelton said. “He’s a tough matchup for some people, and when he gets aggressive offensively, when he can put the ball on the floor, he can do some things."

For Saline, Thursday brought a welcome non-nail biting finish. After recording an 18-point comeback to beat Canton Saturday and falling in double overtime to Southgate Anderson Tuesday, the Hornets were able to breathe a sigh of relief down the stretch Thursday.

“It’s nice to have those, it’s nice to experience,” Williams said. “It stinks to lose like we did on Tuesday, but you have to. In order to us to get to where we want to get to, we have to play in those close games. Come the top teams in the league, they’re going to be close games.”